Driving means for electrical igniters



' Feb. 9, 1926.

H. w. UHL,

DRIVING MEANS FOR ELECTRICAL IGNITERS Fiied July 14, 1924 awvwtoz' Henry Ml". LLhL Patented Feb. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES HENRY WILLIAM UHL, OF FREEPOR'I, NEW YORK.

DRIVING MEAN$ FOR ELECTRICAL IG-hTITERS'.

Application filed July 14, 1924. Serial No. 726,035.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that HENRY IV. UHL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Freeport, L. I., in the county of Nassau and State of New York, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving Means for Electrical Igniters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to a universal driving means for electrical igniters of that class which are applied to Ford cars, although with slight changes the device maybe used with other types of ignition outfits and with other types of motors, where a'driver and a driven shaft are employed and one or both of said shafts are out of proper alignment which would cause the improper meshing of the driving gearing.

In applying ignition devices to Ford cars, it is well known thatwhile the same device may be mounted upon different cars of the same make, that some will give satisfaction while others will become worn out and useless in a short time; and this condi tion is due to the fact that all of these timing or ignition devices are located by a circular recess or boss which is formed on'the front plate or timing gear case cover of theFord,. through which extends the end of the engine cam shaft from which the devices are operated.

In many cases it is found that said cam shaft is out of alignment, bent, or not concentric or perpendicular with the locating recess or face, and if this is the case any gear which is rigidly secured on the cam shaft for the purpose of driving a timing gear'in the ignition device will not run true, hence the timing or firing of the motor will be irregular and the gears will quickly wear out and the complete apparatus quickly becomes de fective.

For this reason if a perfect ignition is desired, there must be employed some form of universal in conjunction with an intermediate or floating shaft provided either for the driver or driven gear or for both, to compensate for the eccentricity or non-alignment of the engine-cam shaft with the ignition shaft.

The object of the present invention is to provide an intermediate floating or compensating gear driving means, which will at all times and under all conditions provide a perfect mesh of the gears to prevent undue wear,

lost motion and any irregularity in the firing of the engme.

Another object being to provide a device of this class that shall be simple in construction, rigid in design and adapted to be installed on the car quickly and be accessible at all times without having to remove parts of the car.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel construction and combination of parts as will hereinafter be fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof and in which like figures of reference refer to corresponding parts in all of the views, but it is understood that I do not confine myself to the exact design as shown as slight changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the'drawings 4 Figure 1. is a partial view of the Ford timing gear case cover or front plate, showing the locating boss and the end of the cam shaft extendingtherethrough.

Figure 2. is aback view of the ignition housing, containing the gears anduniversal driving means.

Figure? is a sectional view of the ignition unit mountedon the plate and showing the driving means in detail.

Figure 4. is a detail view of the driving means shown in its extreme out of alinement position.

Referring to the drawings The Ford front plate or gear case cover 1, is formed with the concentric rings or bosses 2 and 3 and the hole 4 through which extends the end of the cam shaft 5 which is threaded as at 6 and provided with a pin hole 7 both being employed for mounting the regular Ford timer.

The ignitiondevice herewith shown, comprises in part a housing 8 integral with a vertical tubular member 9 upon the upper end of which may be mounted any suitabletiming device (not shown herewith) and op erated by a vertical shaft 10; said shaft 10 being driven by a pinion 11 secured thereon and in mesh with, and driven by a gear 12 mounted in said housing 8; and adapted to be rotated by the cam shaft 5 in the follow ing manner.

Referring to Figure 3, the drive gear 12 is secured on the end of an intermediate shaft or tubular bearing member 13 in any outer locating flange face 17 of the housing,

8 and the plate 1, and allow said gear to rotate freely.

For driving the gear 12,'there is placed on the cam shaft 5 a sleeve 18 (see Figures 2 and 3) which is formed with two opposite slots19 in the sides thereof adjacent to the inner end; and also a pin hole 20 on the opposite end to register with the pin hole 7 in the cam shaft 5, for the reception of the lock pin 21, said lock pin being held'in place by the cup washer 22 placed on said shaft 5 over the head of the pin 21, all being securely held by a lock washer and jam nut 23 threaded on the end of said shaft 5.

As a floating driving means between the sleeve 18 and the drive gear 12'tliere is placed a yoke or cross coupling member 24 which is formed with the opposite outer lugs 25 and the inner lugs 26 at right angles to each other and which is mounted as shown with the inner lugs 26 extending into the slots 19 in the sleeve 18 and the outer lugs 25'extending into the slots 27 which are formed in the end of the gearineinber 13, in such a manner as to produce a; universal joint, compensating for eccentricity of the gear 12 with relation to the cam shaft 5 as shown in Figure 4. y a

The lugs 25 and 26 have a free sliding movement in the slots; and the lugs 26 are loosely retained between the washer 15 and the bottom of the slots 27 which are slightly,

deeper than the thicknes of said member 24, thereby allowing for end movement of the shaft 5.

The intermediate shaft or tubular bear ing member 13 with the driving gear 12 mounted thereon, is rotatably supported by two bearing surfaces; at the rear by the surface 31 of the housing 8, and at the front at 32 by the insert 30 which is cast integral with the housing 8, thereby assuring proper meshing of the gears 11 and 12 with a predetermined uniform relation of angular velocity of theignition shaft 10 with the cam shaft 5.

In mounting the device on the Ford the regular timer with its lock nut, washer and pin is removed, and the new device mounted as follows I The drive retaining washer 15 is first placed over the end of the cam shaft 5; next the cross coupling member 24 is placed on' the same shaft 5; then the sleeve 18 is placed on the shaft 5 with the lugs 26 entering the slots 19 and both are moved until the pin holes in the sleeve and the shaft register with each other, when the pin 21 is inserted and the cup washer 22, lock washer and nut 23 secured in place on the end of the shaft 5. With these in position, the gear member 13 is now placed over the end of the shaft 5 with theslots 27 embracing the lugs 25; the housing '8 is then placed over the same with its outer flange 17 in the recess formed by the boss 2, and said housing 8 is then i clamped tothe plate 1 using the clamp provided in a similar manner as to that in which the regular timer was secured, or other suitable means may be employed; all of the above described installation'being done without removing the radiator from the car.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim asnew and desire to secure byxLetters Patent, is: I v

1. A driving means for ignition devices,

comprising in combination with the engine cam shaft and an ignition device mounted uponthe engine, of a driving gear rotatably mounted in said ignition device'andformed with aligned slots in its rear end, a sleeve secured on said cam shaft, and a floating driving means mounted between said gear and said sleeve and means carried thereby for engaging said gear and said sleeve to form a flexible coupling therebetween.

2. In an ignition device of the class described, comprising in combination with the engine cam shaft and mounting means for said ignition device, of a driving gear mounted in said ignition device, a slotted sleeve mounted on said cam shaft, and'a flexible coupling or yoke mounted between said gear and said sleeve, lugs formed on said yoke and adapted to engage with the slots in said'sleeve and said gear to act as I a flexible drive between said shaft and said ear b l I I I y p n 3. A flexible driviiig nieans for ignition devices for internal combustion engines, in combination with the cain shaft of the engiiie and a mounting means for said ignition device, of a driving gear mounted in said ignition device and formed with slots in the rear thereof, a sleeve vsecured on said cam shaft and formed with 'slots in the sides thereof, a driving member mounted between said gear and said sleeve, said driving member formed with external lugs adapted to engage with and have a sliding movement within the slots'in said gear, and internal lugs formed on said driving member adapted to engage with and have a slid ng movement withinthe slots formed in said sleeve to form a universal joint between said gear and said sleeve. 7

4. In an ignition device of the class described, in combination with an engine cam shaft and mounting means for said ignition device, of a drive gear rotatably mounted in said ignition device, a bearing member secured to said gear and formed with aligned slots in its rear end, a slotted sleeve secured on said cam shaft and extending within said bearing member, and a coupling member mounted within said bearing member and surrounding said sleeve, lugs formed on said driving member adapted to engage the slots on said bearing member and in said sleeve, said driving member having limited free movement in all directions to form a universal joint between said bearing member and said sleeve to transmit movement from said cam shaft to said driving gear.

5. In an ignition device of the class described, in combination with the cam shaft of the engine and mounting means for said ignition device; said ignition device compris ing in part a housing formed with a bearing and a gear supporting boss, a combined drive gear and tubular bearing member mounted within said bearing and upon said boss, a clamping washer disposed between said housing and ignition mounting means, for

the purpose of limiting the end movement of said combined drive gear, said drive gear embracing the end of said cam shaft and spaced therefrom, a sleeve secured on said shaft and a} floating driving member mounted between said gear and said sleeve and formed with means for engaging both said gear and said sleeve in a flexible manner to compensate for non-alignment of said gear and said shaft and providing a positive drive for said ignition device;

6. In a universal driving means for ignition devices, comprising in combination with the engine cam shaft and an ignition housing mounted adjacent thereto, of a driving gear rotatably mounted in said housing, a sleevemounted on said camshaft, and a comp-ensating floating member located between said gear and said sleeve coacting with both to drive said gearfrom said cam shaft in a positive manner for the purpose set forth and substantially as described.

In testimony whereof hereunto affix my' signature.

HENRY WILLIAM UHL. 

